New Zoas from Copps and Vetteman

[jessiesgrrl]

Copps helped me out with these this week. They are still a tad stressed but I sure like them, thought you guys might like a gander also:

Safecrackers

Blue and Golds

Red Asterinas and some cool no name ones

Radioactive Dragon Eyes

Watermelon Palys and RDEs. Man, I had the toughest time getting a good pic of the WPs. the center and mouth is this weirdly flourescent green (unlike PE's- lighter) and then the rest is a gorgeously vivid watermelon hued pink.

Some other shots:

This last one is wicked- I got it in the thermos trade from Vetteman:

He said the white polyps not opening yet on the side is a baby grandis

:love2:
Laurie

 

[Brandon]

wow, those are really nice zoas

 

[JGoslee]

Very nice! That last rock is super cool. It looks like it has alot of good stuff on it.

 

[Randy]

love the new zoas, where did you get the sand from?

 

[jonbar1]

Can't wait to see the Safecrackers color up, they're easily one of my favorite zoanthids.

Awesome new zoas!!

Jon

 

[jessiesgrrl]

love the new zoas, where did you get the sand from?

The sand is play sand. I read Randy Holmes Farley's article on silicates/phosphates and algae blooms, and decided to give it a small time go.

This tank was originally kept as a bare bottom tank, so was easy enough to do. Ive done in the past deep sand beds and regular sand beds in different tanks with oolite sand with no problems, but I was intrigued by Randy's findings and want to see if I get the same results. :shock: So much of this hobby is built around marketing... for example, 'live' sand for sale at Petco, etc. Even if you are gracious enough to throw out the prerequisite arguments of warmth and sustenance while in the bag, you still are left with the volume/space argument that makes live bagged sand an impossiblity. I.E., if the sand is really 'live' it must be breeding because that is what it does. Breeding makes more organisms with mass, that therefore require space. Eventually if it were really live, the bag would burst. I think of it in terms of the botulism ridden can at the supermarket that everyone avoids- ballooned out and misshapen because of the pressure exerted on the can by the multiplication of anaerobic bacterium. So why do so many people think it is really live??? Marketing- we think many times if it says that is what it is, then that is what we are getting. Not so... and perhaps not so with 'needing' calcium based sand instead of the cheapo silica based stuff.

So far, everything is WNL and the sponges are loving life. I'm really interested to see if it changes the way my tanks generally behave, or if the diatom growth will wind up being another 'busted' myth. I had always looked at it from the dissolution of calcium versus the dissoultion of silica standpoint. I had always noticed that I did not need to replace the calcium based sand at the rate suggested by the coomon thought. I have to say since reading his article, I have been giving alot of thought to the ease of the breakdown of calcium versus the ease of breakdown of silica in a saltwater environment.

I've only been doing this since 1993, but I have been doing it long enough to see people start keeping things that were once impossible when I started. I always want to know the why and how of things... It's my major character flaw.

:lol:
Laurie

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Sure, here it is. When you click on it, it will mention a previous research related article by Craig Bingman- click that link for the background to this experiment. I find it fascinating, hope you like it also. It isn't so much revolving around playsand it self- he is dumpin an additive into the aquarium that would in some ways mimic the breakdown of playsand, at least the way we always thought it did.

http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/feature.htm

Laurie

 

[gflat65]

Those are some great pick ups. So when does the 150 zoanthid tank come into play ?

 

[Azurel]

Real nice stuff laurie.....

 

[MarvinsReef]

nice...

 

[jessiesgrrl]

Those are some great pick ups. So when does the 150 zoanthid tank come into play ?

:LOL: That would be so awesome, but Kris would hang me by my cute little toes...! I am still trying to talk him into getting me a Nano 24 for my nightstand, maybe for Christmas. I keep trying to talk the whole propagation thing up to him, but he doesn't believe me (I give too much stuff away to local club people).

I had to sell my FOWLR and my old reef tank in order to talk him into buying the new (to me) big tank. Painful, but worth it now. I spend all the time that I am not tutoring now in that room, and Kris likes it too because that is also the same room where he watches football. This is the first time in 7 years that I have been in the room with him for the whole game...:lol: (Even if I am not watching it..!)


Laurie

 

[Randy]

Laurie
It looks alot like our sand here that we have on the intercoastal and on the beach. I put some in one of my tanks and have not had any - as of yet.It is a silica based sand and is mixed with lots of shell. I put it in the sump and the water from the main tank filters through it.I don't use carbon in that system and my water is clear as can be.I figured if it was good for the flower gardens of of the coast here it should be fine in my tank.Thanks for the link btw.

 

[jessiesgrrl]

I love looking at articles, glad I could share one of interest.

Cool deal, I am really hoping Holmes-Farley is right on this one. I bet I have spent $350 or more over the years just on calcium based sand. Seems a waste, really. The playsand isn't even really blowing around much either- even with two Tunzes going in a wave pattern. What little is blowing stays at the bottom, and I am noticing that my palys look fatter- I guess they like it for reuptake into their coenchymes at a faster rate than I expected! I want to pick them up to see if they are heavier, but I am trying to resist the urge since I want babies...!

That's a thought- my first grandchildren are going to be palys... I guess at least I won't be buying them cars!!

:lol:
Laurie